AC Outlets

They are the small rectangular plates with slots in then - usually spread around the walls about a foot off the floor in the rooms through out your house. :-)

Joking aside - Home Depot and Lowes sells the industrial grade outlets which offers much better contact than the $1's usually used in modern construction. If you want to go fancy PS Audio has a few offerings too as well as Albert Porter that sells some fancy cryoed ones here on Audiogon, I'm sure there are many more.

My own opinion is that the Industrial grade at Homedepot are well worth the upgrade, price wise above that I'm not so sure its worth the expense.

If you are not well versed in changing out these, have an electrician do it for you. You could also inquire about running dedicated lines to your rig, if you are already in the process it is well worth the expense.

As always, good listening

Peter

Elizabeth, really, $3 where do you shop ?

These are the ones I'm referring to

[url=http://store.leviton.com/Duplex-Receptacle-Industrial-Straight-Grounding/dp/B00700SM0I?field_availability=-1&field_browse=2645044011&field_product_site_launch_date_utc=-1y&id=Duplex+Receptacle+Industrial+Straight+Grounding&ie=UTF8&refinementHistory=brandtextbin%2Csubjectbin%2Ccolor_map%2Cprice%2Csize_name&searchNodeID=2645044011&searchPage=1&searchRank=salesrank&searchSize=12#.UH9C50JiebA]Industrial Grade Outlet[/url]

I guess these are the ones you are referring to

[url=http://www.amazon.com/Bryant-Bry5262w-Techspec-Industrial-Receptacle/dp/B003A4BT6W]Hubbel Outlet[/url]

Good listening

Peter

David,

If you try and think logically about this - count the points of contacts from the transformer on your street till the power reaches your transformer in your amplifier, the contact point at the AC outlet on your wall is number 21, that's assuming a dedicated line and no sub panel, all of which has the potential for a less than optimal point of contact. After your power outlet there will be at least 8 points of contact before your transformer is energized.

So while I agree that the quality of the AC outlet is important ie it has to provide
a solid point of contact with as close to zero ohms of contact resistance. If it is a solid connection point then I'd have to state that any perceived difference of sound quality from various AC outlet's is truly in the ear of the beholder.

Having your electrician do a service on your panel for an example, tightening all the connections etc will have far greater impact than the make and model of your quality AC outlet.

Good Listening

Peter

David,

Actually I'm Peter, my father was Poul (That is how we spell it in Denmark)

To answer your question I have tried a few, PS Audio as well as the ones form Synergistic - in my system I detected no difference between them and the industrial grade ones that I use.

If you look at my system you can see that I have taken the electrical wiring of my listening room pretty seriously, I have 6 dedicated 120V lines and 2 ea. 220V lines, all fed from the main panel in my house, all the outlets are fed via 12 gauge romex. The feed to the rest of the house was moved to a separate sub panel

I am not a subscriber to the power cord craze either, I do agree that you have to have a well constructed cord with quality connectors that offers a solid point of contact. Beyond that I will maintain that any changes in sound quality are imagined between various high quality power cords. I encourage you to think logically about this, depending on your installation you can have 100ft plus of romex wire, and if not a dedicated line, you can have up to 13 outlets on that line (that's the code) with up to 5 load bearing devices attached (code too) .

The last three feet of cord, if of good quality and with good connectors, will have little, if any, impact on the current delivered to your amplifier.

As always, Good listening,

Peter

Brownsfan,

I tried to look up the AudioMagic nonostream outlets but came up empty handed, where did you source yours ?

Thanks

Peter

Hi Fi - that's exactly the point I've been making in my above posts :-)

Also, I think SnoFun3's first post above makes a really good point LOL

As Always good Listening

Peter

Rja,

The OP was "Where do I search for ac outlets?"

I was the first to offer suggestions - not as to how and outlet "sounds" but to what I think is important for a electrical outlet, ie. make a solid point of contact.

I do have some experience in just that. I started at age 15 as an Electrician apprentice, in Europe (I'm from Denmark) that's an education that takes 3.5 years of where 1 year is spent on the school bench, and 2.5 years working with electrical installations under the immediate supervision of a trained Electrician, ie one that has completed the 3.5 years of apprenticeship and under the direction of a Electrical Engineer. Upon completion of my apprenticeship I went directly to college to get my Electrical Engineering degree.

I'm not stating this to "belittle" anyone, that is not my nature, I offered advise to try to help on a subject that I know about.

It is my contention that there is way too much snake oil in this industry - and I do think that subjects like this adds to that simply because facts are ignored.

Good Listening,

Peter

Rja

Seems like you cooled off a bit, probably a wise thing to do before posting anything on the internet. I don't see where any of my posts on this subject can bee seen as sarcastic - I have tried to explain why I have the opinion I have, compare that to others that just state, try X outlet it's fantastic, or the ones that just state X outlet is garbage, just statements not backed by any explanations as to why that conclusion was reached by the person.

Belittlement is a state of mind that is reached by a person by him/her self, if you don't let it get to you it will not bother you.

You calling me an idiot I simply don't care about, if it got to me that mean I'd be insecure about my person or what I stand for, I'm not, I assure you.

As always, Good listening

Peter

THE GREAT AC OUTLET SHOOTOUT.

Just to satisfy my own curiosity and because of the very passionate debate by some relating to this issue, I have decided to perform a controlled listening test of AC outlets, basically most of the ones suggested in this tread that I could get a hold of. I’m basically putting my own money where my mouth is.

I have procured the following AC outlets, all are new and unused.

Audio Magic NanoStream, $ 69 and WattGate 5266i AC Plug $10

Porter Port by Albert Porter, $41 and TBD AC Plug $ ?

Furutech FPX-G $95, and Furutech FI-11M-G AC Plug $55

Pass Seymour CR6300 Cryo $44 with Pass Seymour 5366XCCV4 AC Plug $10

Teslaplex SE by Synergistic Research $95 and TBD AC Plug $ ?

Hubbell HBL5362-I Heavy Duty Spec. Grade Grande Duplex $16 and HBL5266C AC plug $10

Levitron 5362-W Industrial Heavy Duty Grande, Straight Blade, Self Grounding Duplex $7 and AC Plug Levitron 5266-C Industrial grade $10

El Cheapo HomeDepot Outlet $0.54 with “regular” Cheap moulded power cord $5

Technical Description of the Test:

To ensure that all the outlets will be equally represented in this test they will be mounted in a test fixture evenly spaced. They will all be fed via a single piece of 12 gauge romex cable directly hardwired to a dedicated 20 amp breaker in our main panel. The wire will be uncut when wired between the different outlets - basically simulating a “single run” dedicated line as only one outlet will be energized at any time.

As you can see if have ordered AC Plugs of the same manufacture and grade as the outlets, I have asked the suppliers of the Audio Grade outlets what AC plug they recommend to get the best performance from the outlet, that way there should be synergy within the - connection point - that is to be evaluated.

The AC plugs will be wired with 3x12 Gauge SJOOW about 12” long these will be hardwired to each their own 3 pole 20Amp relay that will be controlled by a PLC (programable logic controller) this to enable remote controlled switching between the 8 different outlets. The control will be programmed so that the next circuit will energize prior to the past one is de-energized to ensure uninterrupted current flow to the system that will be used for the test. The Complete Audio system will be fed from this one test jig, one outlet at a time. The individual power cords for each piece of equipment will be hard wired into a common terminal strip that is fed from the output of the relays. With this setup the ONLY variable is the AC outlet and its associated AC Plug. The test jig with the outlets will be run in prior to the test for at least 24 hours to insure “break in” for the ones that feel that this is important.

I want to run it as a blind test at first to ensure a completely unbiased result. As each outlet is energized it will be represented by a LED indicating that now outlet “A” for an example is energized, enabling the test panel to identify which outlet they deem the “best sounding”. Many of you have stated that the AC Outlet a Audio System is connected to profoundly changes the sound of the Audio System, so it should be beyond obvious to the test panel which one “sounds” the best. Later on the same test jig can be used for testing AC Cables should the opportunity arise.

We will use a Audio System similar to the system I have listed here on AudioGon for the test, it may change a bit by time of the test based upon what I have available at the time. The total current consumption of the system is in the range of 6 - 8 Amp at idle I estimate at this time but a complete listing of the system used, with actual current draw will be published here on this forum, along with the results of the test for those interested. System

The Test Panel:

On December 2nd. we will host the San Diego Music and Audio Guild here at our facility from 2P to 5P. We host that great group of folks here about every two years or 3 years, usually in December so this coinciding presents a great opportunity to do the AC Outlet test as there will be plenty of Audiophiles available for a unbiased opinion. I ran it by the President of the group this morning and he thought it would be a great thing to do along with of course auditioning our demo system in our factory show room, see and hear our new offerings, discuss audio etc. For more information about our facility you can go to our website and take a peak at the video, there is footage there from our showroom as well. Website

Everyone is welcome to participate in this catered event, there will be food and beverage served. Slider Burgers, Finger Sandwiches, Draft Beer and Soft Drinks etc. If you want to attend just shoot me an email so I can plan ahead with the caterer making sure we will have enough for everyone.

If any of you have any suggestions on on how to conduct the actual test, ie how long do you think each AC outlet should be “on” for, how many times the test should be repeated etc. suggestions are more than welcome. Also, if you have any suggestions to as how the test jig could be technically improved, let me know and I’ll be happy to discuss further.

As Always, Good Listening

Peter

Chad,

I did consider the Oyaide outlets - but I have a limit of 8 outlets, mainly because my little PLC that I use for these things only have 8 outputs.

I wanted to include the 2 generic outlets the Leviton and the Hubbel industrial grade, as well as a completely generic super cheap one with a similar moulded cord. The Audiophile Grade AC outlets I selected for the test were the ones recommended the most in the thread.

Also I think that if we conclude that there is little if any difference in these 8 it would be safe to conclude that any heard difference in outlets is imagined. You already know my position on this if you have read the tread through, but since there was such passion for this why not do a controlled test, I might learn something, if I do great, if not at least I'll have some data to back up any advise given on the subject.

As far a "break in" of the outlets I will try to do my best to get some mileage on them, most likely by connecting them all at the same time in parallel once i get the jig mounted up and maybe run my two amps at home on them for a few weeks this way they will all have the same amount of hours on them. Personally I don't think much break in if any is needed but I want this to be as objective as possible, and both you and Rja suggested it (Rja, welcome back, I'm pleased that we can have a civilized conversation about this)

Rok2id, If you insist :-)


Good Listening

Peter

Whart,

Vinyl is my preferred source - and we will use CD as well.

Thanks

Peter

Whart,

You make a lot of good points and exactly the input I was looking for as my strong point is the technical side of this. Maybe you could suggest an actual procedure along with some musical selections you think would be appropriate to use.

Please keep the suggestions coming

Good Listening

Peter

Whart,

I suppose that we could eliminate the total el cheapo one for a high $ one like the Oyaide or whatever the group that decides to "donate" such can agree on. I think it should be a set, i.e. both Outlet and AC plug. I'm leaving this one up to you, if you can get a group put together for a high $ one go for it I'll be happy to include it. By the time I'm be done with the test jig and and the outlets etc I'm a Grand into this one already.

The only one left to suggest a AC plug is for the Teslaplex from Synergistic Research, I bought it form Tweak Geek in Colorado - asked for a suggestion but never got one.

Albert Porter suggested a specific Hubbell AC Plug for his outlet, I'll search for that particular one tomorrow.

I'll also start a systems page for the test over the next week so anyone interested can see where we are at, as well as give suggestions and comments.

Good Listening

Peter

Richard,

Thank you for the recognition, it is greatly appreciated.

As far as the AC plugs - I think that if the AC outlet test is to be meaningful then the "correct" AC plug has to be used as well, the outlet is only half of the connection point, the plug being the other half, which is why I have selected the exact same level of plug on the off the shelf outlets. On the Audio Grade outlets I have asked the suppliers of them what AC plug they recommend for best performance of their outlet, and I have got an answer form all but the supplier of the Teslaplex - but a friend of mine have some power cords form Synergistic from which I will "borrow" a plug.

Good Listening

Peter

Jallen,

I got the Furutech FPX-G Outlet and the Furutech FI-11M-G AC Plug along with the Pass Seymour CR6300 Cryo Outlet from VH Audio.

They seem to have a great selection of various tweaks. They shipped the same day I ordered so great service too, highly recommended.

Good Listening

Peter

Geoff,

An outlet treated with special sauce :-) Don't know about this one. Pricing seem reasonable.

I think we have a pretty good selection of outlets for the test - a real high$ has been suggested, make TBD, Whart has put up $50 for starting a SOAC (Super Outlet Action Committee) - let's see if he gets any donors.

Good Listening

Peter